Lao Zhang has recently been researching the wonderful connections between Chinese characters and Japanese culture. Did you know that many people think that the Japanese are now using "Chinese kanji", but Lao Zhang told you that this is not necessarily the case? In Japan, they call it "Japanese kanji", which is a kanji word that has been reconstructed and given a new meaning by the Japanese. The mystery of this is not just a simple inheritance of words.
Let's go back in time and imagine how Japan first came into contact with and learned kanji. They introduced Chinese characters from the Korean Peninsula almost intact, and then popularized them from top to bottom among the aristocracy. At that time, Tongkanji was a status symbol for Japan (and Korea), just as the British aristocracy was initially proud of speaking French. Chinese characters, in that era, were undoubtedly a kind of culture and a kind of identity.
The use of kanji has also had some trouble in Japan. After all, Chinese use Chinese characters and Chinese to match each other, while Japanese and Chinese are very different. To solve this dilemma, the Japanese slowly added katakana and hiragana to aid writing and reading, and their functions are similar to our pinyin. In this way, kanji was combined with kana to form a unique Japanese writing system.
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan set off a frenzy to break away from Asia and join Europe, and a large number of Western works and classics flowed into Japan. When translating these Western works, many of the concepts had never existed in Japan before, so translators had to invent new words to express these new concepts. Interestingly, many of the new words coined during this period not only became popular in Japan, but also influenced China, and even used on a large scale in China.
For example, the word "socialism" was first introduced to Japan in 1878 by Genichiro Fukuchi in the form of Chinese character translations. Another example is the "Communist Party", which was also translated by Kotoku Akisui, the earliest socialist in Japan, into Chinese characters, and later introduced into China by Chinese socialists Chen Wangdao, Zhu Zhixin and others. You may ask, why aren't these words translated by the Chinese themselves? In fact, during the Westernization Movement and the New Culture Movement in the late Qing Dynasty, many people in China also tried to translate foreign words, but many of them did not spread. The key to the popularity of Japanese translators lies in their pragmatism. They are more inclined to express complex concepts in simple and clear words, rather than being overly elaborate and retro.
Lao Zhang is not saying that Chinese translation is not good, but that different cultural backgrounds and ways of thinking lead to different translation styles. But in any case, these neologisms composed of Japanese kanji undoubtedly played a role as a bridge in Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges. They not only enrich the vocabulary of China and Japan, but also promote mutual understanding and exchanges between the two peoples.
When it comes to the influence of Japanese kanji on the Chinese characters used in China today, it is amazing! According to statistics, seventy percent of the translations of kanji in the field of sociological sciences are imported Japanese kanji. Some of these words, such as "people" and "republic", are reflected in the name of the country, "People's Republic of China". Although the word "Zhonghua" has been around since ancient times, the words "people" and "republic" are new meanings given by the Japanese in the translation process.
The use of kanji in Japan also faces some challenges. In recent years, the use of kanji seems to be gradually decreasing as the younger generation pursues convenience. Many people find kanji difficult to write and memorize, and prefer to use kana to write and read. But despite this, the place of kanji in Japanese culture remains unshakable. On many formal occasions and cultural relics, we can see the figure of Chinese characters. They are not only the carrier of words, but also the inheritance and symbol of culture.
Whether it is an ancient temple or a modern street, you can find Chinese characters. And the Japanese attach great importance to fonts are even more impressive to Lao Zhang. Whether it is ancient calligraphy or modern font design, it can show the unique charm and beauty of Chinese characters.
Japanese kanji is not only the inheritance and evolution of a written language, but also an important link between China and Japan. They have witnessed the friendship and cooperation between the Chinese and Japanese peoples, and have also promoted the mutual reference and integration of the cultures of the two countries. As the creator, Lao Zhang hopes that through this article, more people can understand the charm and value of Japanese kanji, and also hope to promote deeper exchanges and understanding between the people of China and Japan.